Commissioned by the La Fenice theatre of Venice to compose an opera for them in 1850, Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) chose as his subject Victor Hugo’s drama “Le Roi s’amuse”. As with Hugo, the protagonists in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” live in a depraved society unheeding not only of each other, but also of each other’s needs: a ruler obsessively seeks erotic distractions from boredom without a moment’s thought for what damage he may cause, a father in distress is taunted, courtiers commit a crime unpunished, a father keeps his daughter shut up at home.

The Franco-German director David Hermann, who most recently enjoyed great success at the Ruhr Triennale, the Frankfurt opera and the Teatro Real of Madrid, dissects in this staging behaviour patterns within these chilly court circles, where any wish for freedom or love can only lead to death.